Coupler for actuating a rotary work piece and use thereof



Feb. 15, 1966 R. D. OSBORNE 3,235,015

COUPLER FOR AGTUATING A ROTARY WORK PIECE AND USE THEREOF Filed Feb. 26, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR ROBERT D. OSBORNE BY M /zaQ AGENT Feb. 15, 1966 R. D. OSBORNE 3,235,015

COUPLER FOR ACTUATING A ROTARY WORK PIECE AND USE THEREOF Filed Feb. 26, 1963 2 SheetsSheet 2 INVENTOR ROBERT D. OSBORNE BY M 55%,

AGENT United States Patent 3,235,015 CQUPLER FQR AQTUATHNG A RUTARY WSRK PIECE AND UE THEREQF Robert I). @sborne, Newark, Deb, assignor to E. l. du

Pout de Nemours and Company, Wilmington, DeL, a

corporation of Delaware Filed Feb. 26, 1963, Ser. No. 261,994 4 Claims. (Cl. l73l63) This invention relates to a device for actuating a rotary scraper for scraping the inner walls of a tube or pipe. More particularly, it relates to a device for actuating a rotary scraper for dislodg-ing solid deposits from the inner Walls of the riser pipe of a fused salt electrolysis cell for the production of sodium.

Sodium is produced commercially by the electrolysis of fused salt in cells basically similar in design to the Downs cell described in Downs U.S. Patent 1,501,756. The sodium product is removed from such a cell by way of a vertical riser pipe. The upper portion of such riser pipe is generally cooled to effect precipitation of dissolved salts and/ or calcium from the sodium rising therein. The presence of calcium in the sodium arises when a mixture of sodium and calcium chlorides is used as the electrolyte. Most of the precipitated solid calcium sinks in the riser pipe and returns to the cell where it reacts with the electrolyte to reform calcium chloride. However, some of the precipitated calcium is deposited on the inner walls of the riser pipe. It is essential that such deposits of calcium and/or salts be removed, preferably periodically, otherwise their continued growth would eventually plug the riser pipe.

Rotary scrapers, generally referred to as ticklers, are customarily employed to dislodge the above deposits. Such scrapers or ticklers usually consist of one or more cleaner or scraper blades mounted upon a shaft whose axis corresponds to the center of the cylindrical riser pipe and extends through the pipe from above and is capable of rotation and limited vertical movement. The scraper blades are designed so that they will act upon or scrape the inner walls of the riser pipe over essentially its entire length so as to dislodge the deposits therefrom. Ticklers of this type and for this purpose are described in Honea US. Patent 2,770,364, Fentress U.S. Patents 2,770,592 and 2,944,955, and Gallinger US. Patent 3,037,927.

It is generally regarded as advantageous to actuate such ticklers only periodically, e.g., every half hour or so, so as to provide a period between actuations during which the dislodged deposits may settle back into the cell. Such actuations will generally involve several rotations of the tickler interspersed by one or more drops or jolts effected by raising the tickler 2 to 6 inches and allowing it to drop back suddenly under its own weight into normal position. Such jolting action loosens solids such as calcium and/ or salts that might have accumulated on the scraper blades during rotation of the tickler or may have built up directly on the tickler itself.

Manual actuation of riser pipe ticklers is a laborious and uncomfortable task. Various motor driven mechanical actuators have been proposed, but their use involves the costly installation of such an actuator for each sodium cell with fixed holders to compensate for the tremendous reverse torque encountered. Furthermore, the force applied to the tickler would often shear off the tickler when the latter was tightly bound, necessitating the chipping out of the plugging solids and the replacement of the sheared off tickler.

It is an object of the invention to provide an improved device for mechanically actuating sodium cell riser pipe ticklers. A further object is to provide such a device which is relatively inexpensive and portable whereby a single such device may be employed to actuate one after the other the riser pipe ticklers for a whole series of sodium cells. Another object is to provide a portable tickler actuating device which will automatically engage, actuate then disengage the operating handle of a sodium cell riser pipe tickler. Still another object is to provide an improved device for mechanically actuating rotary scraping devices for dislodging solid deposits fro-m the inner surfaces of cylindrical tubes or pipes generally. Other objects will be apparent from. the following description.

The nature and details of the device of the invention will be apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view with parts shown in section of a portable device in accordance with the invention for mechanically actuating a tickler for a sodium cell riser P p FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the device taken along line 22 of FIG. 1, with certain parts being shown in elevations and others omitted,

FIG. 3 is a sectional view along line 3-3 of FIG. 1 with certain parts shown diagrammatically, and

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the universal coupling element of the device of FIG. 1 with the top thereof omitted.

In broad aspects, the device of the invention cornprises the combination of a motor-driven rotary impact tool and a universal coupler for operatively coupling the impact tool with the handle of a rotary scraper for scraping the inner walls of a cylindrical tube or pipe to dislodge solid deposits therefrom. The device can be employed in the vertical, horizontal or any other desired position, depending upon the position of the rotary scraper which is to be actuated thereby. It may be employed to actuate any scraper assembly which is axially centered Within a cylindrical pipe or tube and designed to rotate there-in, said scraper assembly having a handle comprising a bar engaging element positioned perpendicularly to the axis of rotation of the scraper assembly with its center coinciding with said axis.

The actuating device of the invention may be employed, for example, to actuate rotary scrapers Within condenser tubes where polymer entrainment build-up at vapor condenser entrances tends to occur, whereby polymer deposits are dislodged. The device may be employed for actuating rotary scrapers for other similar purposes. It is especially well suited for actuating ticklers in sodium cell riser pipes and the invention will be described in detail with respect to this particular use.

Referring to the drawings, element 1 represents a casting, which is preferably cylindrical and which houses the remaining elements of the device. Casing 1 conveniently is made of a section of steel pipe or tube of suitable diameter and having a wall thickness sufficient to provide adequate strength. When the device is to be employed in a suspended vertical position, it generally will be provided with support brackets 2 (usually three in number) fitted at the top with a suspension loop 3. Positioned within casing 1 is a rotary impact tool 4 driven by motor 5 and held in place by bracket 34. Impact tool 4 is provided within drive spindle or shaft 6 having a square bar 7. The latter fits into the mating socket of socket member 8 and the coupling thereby provided between bar end 7 and socket member 8 is made secure by pin member 9. Socket member 8 is fixedly connected, e.g., by welding, to the upper end of square transmission shaft 1:) so that shaft 6, socket member 8 and shaft 11 rotate as a unit. the lower portion of square shaft 16 fits into the mating square socket of cylindrical sleeve-socket 11 consisting of inner and outer sleeve members made integral with each other, e.g., by welding, so that rotation of shaft 10 will eifect rotation of sleeve-socket 11. The socket of the latter may extend throughout its entire length but in any case will be of sufficient depth to accommodate substantially the entire length of shaft 1t} when sleeve-socket 11 is in its uppermost position. Sleeve-socket 11 is movable vertically within tubular guide member 12 which depends fixedly from support plate 35 having hole 45 therein through which transmission shaft extends and rotates. Surrounding hole 45 is lip 36 against which the bottom edge of socket member 8 rests.

The upper end of sleeve-socket 11 is provided with shoulder 16 and raceway 13 while the lower end thereof is made integral with cover plate 23 of universal coupler 22. Yoke arms 17 are pivotally connected at their outer ends to bracket 18, and are provided at their opposite ends with pins 15 which extend through elongated guide slots 14 and into raceway 13 on opposite sides of tubular guide member 12. Yoke arms 17 are provided intermediate their ends with brackets 19 which are pivotally connected to piston shaft 20 of double-action air piston 21 operated by air lines 33.

Universal coupler 22 comprises cover plate 23 which is integrally connected to body portion 46. The latter, viewed in cross-section, is annular in shape with the lower portion thereof shaped to form twin books 24 positioned 180 apart whose nose portions 25 lead in the same circular direction. Surfaces 26 of hooks 24 are impact surfaces while surfaces 27 and 28 are cam surfaces. The entire body portion 46, including hooks 24, is conveniently cut out of a section of steel pipe of suitable diameter and wall. thickness. Thus, suitable body portions including hooks 24 have been cut out of sections 4 to 5 inches long of a 6 inch diameter Schedule 120 steel pipe.

Item is the upper portion of a sodium cell riser pipe having cover 41 through which tickler shaft 42 extends and rotates. The upper end of shaft 42 is provided with handle 43 which as shown is a bar integrally connected to shaft 42 so as to form therewith a T. The bar constituting handle 43 should be positioned perpendicularly to the axis of rotation of shaft 42 with its midpoint coinciding with said axis, and it should be somewhat longer than the distance between books 24. Bar 43 (the handle) may be attached to shaft 42 other than at its midpoint. Thus, its ends may be integrally connected to 42 so as to form on the end of the latter a handle in the form of an inverted stirrup with bar 43 constituting the foot portion thereof positioned perpendicularly to the axis of rotation of shaft 42.

Equally spaced about the lower end of easing 1 are a number of centering brackets 38. Each such bracket is provided with a cam surface 39 and a shoulder 47. There should be at least three such brackets and four thereof spaced 90 apart around casing 1, as indicated in FIG. 1, are preferred. Element 29 is a double-action air piston whose shaft 30 operates to actuate mechanism 31 which controls the direction of rotation of motor 5 and impact tool 4 and its drive assembly. In case motor 5 is an electric motor, mechanism 31 can be simply a switch for reversing the rotor direction. In case motor 5 is an air motor, mechanism 31 can be a lever on a butterfly valve arrangement for changing the direction of flow of the air delivered to motor 5. Air piston 29 is powered by air delivered through air lines 32.

The device as shown in the drawings is intended for use in its vertical position, e.g., while being suspended by suspension loop 3 from a traveling crane. When the device is lowered over riser pipe 40, guide brackets 38 with their cam surfaces 39 function to center the device properly over tickler 42 with shoulder 47 of bracket 38 resting on top 41 of the riser. When the device is so lowered while impact tool 4 is rotating coupler 22 clockwise, the latter will automatically engage handle 43 and will remain so engaged so long as the clockwise rotation is continued. When the direction of rotation is reversed, e.g., by the action of double-action piston cylinder 29 through mechanism 31, handle 43 will be caused first to ride up cam surfaces 27 and out of hooks 24 and then Cir to strike earn surfaces 28, whereby handle 43 will become disengaged from and urged away from hooks 24, particularly if the entire device is being raised while the coupler is undergoing the reverse or counter clockwise rotation.

Rotary impact tool 4- may be any such tool which is designed and adapted to rotate a work piece. Tools of this type are well known and are widely used to tighten work pieces such as screws, nuts and the like. Rotary tools such as those described in J imerson et a1. U.S. Patent 2,160,150 and Harrison et al. U.S. Patent 2,889,902 are illustrative of those which can be employed as tool 4 in the device of the invention. Such tools are designed and adapted to deliver a series of rotational hammer impact blows in rapid succession to an anvil for rotating a work piece. When modified as described in the above Harrison et al. patent, the tool can be set so as to control the amount of torque that will be applied by the tool to the work. This is a highly desirable feature and when such a modified tool is employed in the device of the invention it can be set to shut off automatically at some safe maximum torque delivery valve, e.g., 320 ft. lbs., in order to prevent the inadvertent shearing off of a tickler in a riser pipe should the tickler for some reason or other become more or less solidly bound in the riser pipe.

As will be evident from the foregoing description, the device of the invention combines a rotary impact tool with a universal coupler which adapts the device for automatically engaging a bar shaped handle of a work piece and for transmitting to the work piece the series of rotational hammer impact blows of the impact tool. When the work piece is the handle of a sodium cell tickler as illustrated in the drawings, such hammer impact blows are delivered against handle 43 by impact surfaces 26 of hooks 24. No reverse torque problems arise from the use of the device since the torsional impact energy delivered by the impact tool is dissipated in the vertical plane. Thus, no means for holding down the device is required and the device is fully operable when simply suspended from a single point as by suspension loop 3 shown in FIG. 1.

When suspended by an over-head crane, the device can be moved down a series of sodium cells so as to actuate in turn the riser pipe tickler of each cell. As each tickler is being rotated it can be simultaneously raised and dropped to impart a desirable jolting action thereto. This is accomplished by means of double-action air piston 21 which, through yoke arms 17 and pins 15 acting in raceway 13, raises or lowers sleeve-socket 11 to which coupler 22 is attached. The extent to which coupler 22 can be moved vertically is determined by the length of guide slots 14. A vertical movement of about 2 to 6 inches is generally adequate.

When using the device to service a bank or an entire shop of sodium cells, it is convenient to run air lines 32 and 33, for operating air pistons 29 and 21, respectively, to a conveniently placed control panel from which operation of the overhead traveling crane from which the device is suspended is also controlled. In this manner all operations including the moving of the device from one cell to another, the lowering or raising of it over a riser pipe so as to engage or disengage the universal coupler with the tickler handle, the reversing of the direction of rotation of the impact tool and the raising and lowering of the coupler with the engaged tickler so as to impart a jolting action to the latter, can all be controlled as desired from a single conveniently located control panel.

As indicated in the foregoing description, the device of the invention is preferably employed in portable form. However, should the portable form not be required or desired, the device can be mounted permanently, e.g., by bolting brackets 33 to the riser pipe cover 41 of a single riser pipe, for servicing a single tickler. When a single device can be used to service several ticklers, use of a single such device in portable form will generally be less costly and therefore preferred over the use of several permanently mounted similar devices.

It has been found that heavy solid deposits of calcium and/or salts in a sodium cell riser pipe which could not be dislodged by operating the tickler manually can be readily and simply dislodged when actuating the tickler by the present device. Use of the present device substantially increases the tickler life.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are as follows:

1. A universal coupler for engaging and actuating a rotary work piece having a bar handle positioned perpendicularly with respect to the axis of rotation of said Work piece and with its center coinciding with said axis, said coupler comprising an annular body member one end of which terminates in the form of twin hooks whose nose portions lead in the same circular direction; said hooks being space 180 apart and being equidistant from the longitudinal axis of said annular body member, and said hooks including cam surfaces for effecting the disengagement of said handle and its movement from said hooks when the direction of rotation of said coupler is reversed; said annular body member being rigidly attached at its other end to means for rotating said annular body member about its longitudinal axis.

2. The combination of: (A) a universal coupler for engaging and actuating a rotary work piece having a bar handle positioned perpendicularly with respect to the axis of rotation of said work piece and with its center coinciding with said axis, said coupler comprising an annular body member one end of which terminates in the form of twin hooks whose nose portions lead in the same circular direction; said hooks being spaced 180 apart and being equidistant from the longitudinal axis of said annular body member, and said hooks including cam surfaces for effecting the disengagement of said handle and its movement from said hooks when the direction of rotation of said coupler is reversed; said annular body member being rigidly attached at its other end to means for rotating said annular body member about its longitudinal axis, with (B) a motor-driven rotary impact tool axially aligned with said coupler and adapted to deliver a series of rotational hammer impact blows in rapid succession thereto, said combination including means for reversing the direction of rotation of said rotary impact tool, means for varying the distance between said coupler and said rotary impact tool while the two are operatively engaged, and a casing within which the aforesaid elements of the combination are operatively positioned.

3. The combination of claim 2 wherein the casing is provided with means for operatively ositioning said coupler with respect to the work piece and also with means for suspending the entire combination from a single suspension point.

4. The combination of claim 2 wherein the motor for driving the rotary impact tool is an air motor, the means for reversing the direction of rotation of the rotary impact tool is an air piston and the means for varying the distance between the coupler and the rotary impact tool is an air piston.

References Qited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 497,590 5/1893 Moffat et al. 642 2,556,380 6/1951 Stillwagon 64-23 X 2,770,364 11/1956 Honea 210540 BROUGHTON G. DURHAM, Primmy Examiner.

ROBERT C. RIORDON, Examiner. 

1. A UNIVERSAL COUPLER FOR ENGAGING AND ACTUATING A ROTARY WORK PIECE HAVING A BAR HANDLE POSITIONED PERPENDICULARLY WITH RESPECT TO THE AXIS OF ROTATION OF SAID WORK PIECE AND WITH ITS CENTER COINCIDING WITH SAID AXIS, AND COUPLER, COMPRISING AN ANNULAR BODY MEMBER ONE END OF WHICH TERMINATES IN THE FORM OF TWIN HOOKS WHOSE NOSE PORTIONS LEAD IN THE SAME CIRCULAR DIRECTION; SAID HOOKS BEING SPACE 180* APART AND BEING EQUIDISTANT FROM THE LONGITUDINAL AXIS OF SAID ANNULAR BODY MEMBER, AND SAID HOOKS INCLUDING CAM SURFACES FOR EFFECTING THE DIS- 